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Negotiating Peace in Sierra Leone: Confronting the Justice Challenge
Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue rDecembeerp 2007 ort Negotiating peace in Sierra Leone: Confronting the justice challenge Priscilla Hayner Report The Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue is an independent and impartial foundation, Contents based in Geneva, that promotes and facilitates 1. Introduction and overview 5 dialogue to resolve armed conflicts and reduce civilian suffering. 2. Background to the 1999 talks 8 114, rue de lausanne 3. Participation in the Lomé talks: April–July 1999 10 ch-1202 geneva 4. Amnesty in the Lomé process and Accord 12 switzerland The context 12 [email protected] t: + 41 22 908 11 30 Rapid agreement on a blanket amnesty 13 f: +41 22 908 11 40 A second look at the amnesty: was it unavoidable? 16 www.hdcentre.org The amnesty and the UN and other international participants 17 © Copyright 5. Other justice issues at Lomé 19 Henry Dunant Centre for Humanitarian Dialogue, 2007 A Truth and Reconciliation Commission 19 Reproduction of all or Provisions for reparations 20 part of this publication The security forces and demobilisation of combatants 20 may be authorised only Reaching an agreement on power-sharing 21 with written consent and acknowledgement of the 6. After the agreement: a difficult peace 22 source. Slow implementation and near collapse of the accord 23 The International Center The Special Court for Sierra Leone 25 for Transitional Justice Implementing the Truth and Reconciliation Commission 26 assists countries pursuing Judicial reform efforts 28 accountability for past mass Creation of a new Human Rights Commission 28 atrocity or human rights abuse. It assists in the development Demobilisation, and reform of the armed forces and police 29 of integrated, comprehensive, and localized approaches to 7. -
Profile of Internal Displacement : Sierra Leone
PROFILE OF INTERNAL DISPLACEMENT : SIERRA LEONE Compilation of the information available in the Global IDP Database of the Norwegian Refugee Council (as of 15 October, 2003) Also available at http://www.idpproject.org Users of this document are welcome to credit the Global IDP Database for the collection of information. The opinions expressed here are those of the sources and are not necessarily shared by the Global IDP Project or NRC Norwegian Refugee Council/Global IDP Project Chemin Moïse Duboule, 59 1209 Geneva - Switzerland Tel: + 41 22 799 07 00 Fax: + 41 22 799 07 01 E-mail : [email protected] CONTENTS CONTENTS 1 PROFILE SUMMARY 6 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6 CAUSES AND BACKGROUND OF DISPLACEMENT 9 BACKGROUND TO THE CONFLICT 9 CHRONOLOGY OF SIGNIFICANT EVENTS SINCE INDEPENDENCE (1961 - 2000) 9 HISTORICAL OUTLINE OF THE FIRST EIGHT YEARS OF CONFLICT (1991-1998) 13 CONTINUED CONFLICT DESPITE THE SIGNING OF THE LOME PEACE AGREEMENT (JULY 1999-MAY 2000) 16 PEACE PROCESS DERAILED AS SECURITY SITUATION WORSENED DRAMATICALLY IN MAY 2000 18 RELATIVELY STABLE SECURITY SITUATION SINCE SIGNING OF CEASE-FIRE AGREEMENT IN ABUJA ON 10 NOVEMBER 2000 20 CIVIL WAR DECLARED OVER FOLLOWING THE FULL DEPLOYMENT OF UNAMSIL AND THE COMPLETION OF DISARMAMENT (JANUARY 2002) 22 REGIONAL EFFORTS TO MAINTAIN PEACE IN SIERRA LEONE (2002) 23 SIERRA LEONEANS GO TO THE POLLS TO RE-ELECT AHMAD TEJAN KABBAH AS PRESIDENT (MAY 2002) 24 SIERRA LEONE’S SPECIAL COURT AND TRUTH AND RECONCILIATION COMMISSION START WORK (2002-2003) 25 MAIN CAUSES OF DISPLACEMENT 28 COUNTRYWIDE DISPLACEMENT -
Special Court for Sierra Leone Outreach and Public Affairs Office
SPECIAL COURT FOR SIERRA LEONE OUTREACH AND PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFICE The Bumbuna dam PRESS CLIPPINGS Enclosed are clippings of local and international press on the Special Court and related issues obtained by the Outreach and Public Affairs Office as at: Tuesday, 15 May 2012 Press clips are produced Monday through Friday. Any omission, comment or suggestion, please contact Martin Royston-Wright Ext 7217 2 Local News Special Court Prosecutor Appluads Sierra Leoneans / Premier News Page 3 Special Court Prosecutor Appluads Sierra Leoneans / Concord Times Page 4 Black Scorpion Hunts Johnny Paul / Ariogbo Page 5 International News Charles Taylor And The Fallacy of the Special Court / Newstime Africa Pages 6-9 Liberia: Taylor Speaks Tomorrow…/ The New Dawn Pages 10-11 Is Mercy the Best Course? / The Independent Online Pages 12-14 Relevance of ICC Judgment Against Charles Taylor to SL / The Island Pages 15-17 Taylor Prosecutor Visits Sierra Leone / UPI.Com Page 18 Start of Mladic Trial Shows Persistence Pays / Human Rights Watch Pages 19-20 ICC Seeks to Arrest Ntaganda, Mudacumura for DRC Crimes / Voice of America Page 21 3 Premier News Tuesday, 15 May 2012 4 Concord Times Tuesday, 15 May 2012 Special Court Prosecutor Appluads Sierra Leoneans 5 Ariogbo Tuesday, 15 May 2012 6 Newstime Africa Tuesday, 15 May 2012 Charles Taylor and the fallacy of the Special Court Written by Alfred Munda SamForay Charles Taylor Before we get to the matter of Prosecutor versus Charles Gbankay Taylor and the myths and fallacy of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, let’s address some myths about Charles Taylor himself. -
The Meaning of a Militia: Understanding the Civil Defence Forces of Sierra Leone
African Affairs, 106/425, 639–662 doi: 10.1093/afraf/adm054 C The Author [2007]. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal African Society. All rights reserved ! THE MEANING OF A MILITIA: UNDERSTANDING THE CIVIL DEFENCE FORCES OF SIERRA LEONE DANNY HOFFMAN ABSTRACT This article is an adapted, narrative version of an expert witness report the author wrote for the Defence of one of the accused before the Spe- cial Court for Sierra Leone. The case against the Civil Defence Forces militia was predicated in part on the argument that the CDF was a mil- itary organization with military-style command and control. Based on a close reading of the Prosecution’s military expert witness report and the author’s ethnographic research with the militia, the article outlines a case for understanding the CDF as the militarization of a social network rather than as a military organization. This framing has implications not only for post-conflict adjudication, but for how we think about and intervene in violent contexts throughout contemporary West Africa. ON 14 JUNE 2005 COLONEL RICHARD IRON TOOK THE WITNESS STAND in the case against the Civil Defence Forces at the Special Court for Sierra Leone. The Court was trying those accused of bearing ‘greatest responsi- bility for serious violations of humanitarian law and Sierra Leonean law’ during the latter half of the country’s ten-year war. Iron, a British officer, was in Freetown to answer the Defence’s challenge to a report he wrote on behalf of the Prosecution. Iron’s report did not speak directly to the ultimate issue, the Court’s terminology for the guilt or innocence of the accused. -
G U I N E a Liberia Sierra Leone
The boundaries and names shown and the designations Mamou used on this map do not imply official endorsement or er acceptance by the United Nations. Nig K o L le n o G UINEA t l e a SIERRA Kindia LEONEFaranah Médina Dula Falaba Tabili ba o s a g Dubréka K n ie c o r M Musaia Gberia a c S Fotombu Coyah Bafodia t a e r G Kabala Banian Konta Fandié Kamakwie Koinadugu Bendugu Forécariah li Kukuna Kamalu Fadugu Se Bagbe r Madina e Bambaya g Jct. i ies NORTHERN N arc Sc Kurubonla e Karina tl it Mateboi Alikalia L Yombiro Kambia M Pendembu Bumbuna Batkanu a Bendugu b Rokupr o l e Binkolo M Mange Gbinti e Kortimaw Is. Kayima l Mambolo Makeni i Bendou Bodou Port Loko Magburaka Tefeya Yomadu Lunsar Koidu-Sefadu li Masingbi Koundou e a Lungi Pepel S n Int'l Airport or a Matotoka Yengema R el p ok m Freetown a Njaiama Ferry Masiaka Mile 91 P Njaiama- Wellington a Yele Sewafe Tongo Gandorhun o Hastings Yonibana Tungie M Koindu WESTERN Songo Bradford EAS T E R N AREA Waterloo Mongeri York Rotifunk Falla Bomi Kailahun Buedu a i Panguma Moyamba a Taiama Manowa Giehun Bauya T Boajibu Njala Dambara Pendembu Yawri Bendu Banana Is. Bay Mano Lago Bo Segbwema Daru Shenge Sembehun SOUTHE R N Gerihun Plantain Is. Sieromco Mokanje Kenema Tikonko Bumpe a Blama Gbangbatok Sew Tokpombu ro Kpetewoma o Sh Koribundu M erb Nitti ro River a o i Turtle Is. o M h Sumbuya a Sherbro I. -
Litigating Child Recruitment Before the Special Court for Sierra Leone
Litigating Child Recruitment Before the Special Court for Sierra Leone NOAH B. NOVOGRODSKY* In May 2004, the Special Court for Sierra Leone issued a landmark decision finding that an individual may be held criminally responsible for the offense of recruiting' child soldiers into armed conflict. As a hybrid tribunal established by the United Nations and the Government of Sierra Leone to try those who "bear the greatest responsibility" for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed during the country's civil war after November 1996, the Special Court is the first international criminal body to indict a person for the crime of recruiting and employing children in war. The decision in the case of Sam Hinga Norman now aligns this emerging doctrine of international humanitarian law with general international human rights protections, as * Professor Noah Novogrodsky is the director of the University of Toronto Faculty of Law International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC). The attached brief was filed with the Special Court for Sierra Leone on November 4, 2003. Mora Johnson, Elyse Korman, Robin Reinertson, and David Wei of the IHRC drafted substantial parts of the brief and contributed to this article. 1. Recruitment is defined in Article 4 of the Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone as "[c]onscripting or enlisting children under the age of 15 years into armed forces or groups using them to participate actively in hostilities." The implication of this Article is that a child under the age of fifteen cannot meaningfully consent to enlist or participate in armed conflict. See The Secretary-General, Report of the Secretary-Generalon the Establishment of a Special Court for Sierra Leone, U.N. -
Sierra Leone: Whether a Person Who Did Not Participate in the General
RIR Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada www.irb-cisr.gc.ca Français Home Contact Us Help Search canada.gc.ca Home > Research > Responses to Information Requests RESPONSES TO INFORMATION REQUESTS (RIRs) New Search | About RIR's | Help 03 April 2003 SLE41345.E Sierra Leone: Whether a person who did not participate in the general strike of 1997 and 1998 as decreed by the exiled Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) would be targeted by the Kamajors and, if so, protection available; areas of the country in which the Kamajors still have influence Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Ottawa The Kamajor militias are traditional hunters who fought against the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels during Sierra Leone's eleven-year armed conflict (IRIN 14 Feb. 2003; UNHCR/ACCORD 13-14 Nov. 2000), which President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah declared over on 18 January 2002 (HRW 2003). The editor of Sierra Leone Web (SLW) said, in correspondence with the Research Directorate, that the Kamajors, meaning "hunter" in Mende, are of the Mendes ethnic group and so were active in the southern and eastern regions of the country (21 Mar. 2003). The profile on Sierra Leone in the final report of the 6th European Country of Origin Information Seminar, states that the Civil Defence Forces (CDF) were a "major player" in the civil war and that, in the southern region of the country, they called themselves the Kamajors while in the north and north-east, they called themselves Tamboro (UNHCR/ACCORD 13-14 Nov. 2000, 149). The report further noted that, although the "stronghold" of the Kamajor militia was in Bo, they also had a "strong base" in the centre of the country (ibid.). -
Table of Contents
Table of Contents Introduction 1 The political context 2 The West Africa sub-region 5 International response to the human rights crisis 8 United Nations 8 The UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone 9 The UN special conference on Sierra Leone 11 OAU and ECOWAS 13 Human rights violations during the period of AFRC rule 16 Arbitrary arrest and detention 17 Torture and extrajudicial executions 18 The use of the death penalty by the AFRC 21 Human rights abuses by AFRC and RUF forces since February 1998 22 "Operation no living thing" 24 Human rights abuses by rebel forces since July 1998 29 Children at the centre of the violence 32 Abduction of children 34 The abuse of children by rebel forces 34 Victims and perpetrators of human rights abuses 35 Recruitment of children by Civil Defence Forces 35 Efforts by the international community to meet the needs of children 36 Human rights violations by ECOMOG forces 38 Human rights violations by Civil Defence Forces 41 Refugees and internally displaced people - still at risk 44 Refugees in Guinea and Liberia 44 Internally displaced people 47 Accountability for human rights abuses 48 Detentions and trials after February 1998 49 The committee of investigation 51 Trials before the High Court 52 Trials before court martial 55 The death penalty - a violation of human rights 57 Harsh prison conditions 59 Long-term measures for the protection and respect of human rights 61 Reform of the legal and judicial system 62 Restructuring the armed forces 62 Human rights training for the police force 63 The National Commission for Human Rights and Democracy 64 1 SIERRA LEONE 1998 - a year of atrocities against civilians Introduction During 1998 the scale of atrocities against civilians in Sierra Leone has reached unprecedented levels. -
Scs L-2Eo1-C)~- T ~ 07 MAR 2003 7~~3 the SPECIAL COURT for SIERRA LEONE Mjda (}:T)-6 ~
Scs L-2eo1-C)~- T ~ 07 MAR 2003 7~~3 THE SPECIAL COURT FOR SIERRA LEONE MjdA (}:t)-6 ~. CASE NO. SCSL - 03 - -I THE PROSECUTOR Against SAM HINGA NORMAN INDICTMENT The Prosecutor, Special Court for Sierra Leone, under Article 15 of the Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (the Statute), charges: SAM HINGA NORMAN with CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY, VIOLATIONS OF ARTICLE 3 COMMON TO THE GENEVA CONVENTIONS AND OF ADDITIONAL PROTOCOL II, and OTHER SERIOUS VIOLATIONS OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAW in violation of Articles 2, 3 and 4 of the Statute, as set forth below: \ THE ACCUSED 1. SAM HINGA NORMAN, (the ACCUSED) was born on I January 1940, in Ngolala Village, Mongeri (or Monghere), Valunia Chiefdom, Bo District, in the Southern Province of the Republic of Sierra Leone. 2. The ACCUSED served in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Sierra Leone from about 1959 to 1972 rising to the rank of Captain. In 1966 he graduated from the Mons Officer Cadet School in Aldershot, United Kingdom. The ACCUSED has served as Liaison Representative and Chiefdom Spokesman in Mongeri, Valunia Chiefdom, as Regent Chief of Jaiama Bongor Chiefdom, and as Deputy Minister of Defence for Sierra Leone. He is currently serving as the Minister of the Internal Affairs for Sierra Leone. PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/4805d2/ s GENERAL ALLEGATIONS 3. At all times relevant to this Indictment, a state of armed conflict existed in Sierra Leone. For the purposes of this Indictment the organized armed factions involved in this conflict included the Civil Defence Forces (CDF) fighting against the combined forces of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). -
The Hybrid Tribunal in Sierra Leone⊗
Wrong-sizing international justice? The hybrid tribunal in Sierra Leone⊗ Chandra Lekha Sriram Word count: 11,425 Introduction: what size should international justice be? Even as the International Criminal Court undertakes investigations in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, policymakers and academics continue to debate what the “right” tools to respond to past atrocities are. Naturally there are concerns that justice must be done, weighed against concerns that weak states will be destabilized by attempts at accountability.1 While many have celebrated the entry into force of the ICC statute, and the exercise of universal jurisdiction, the United States continues to challenge both of these tools of international justice as undemocratic and illegitimate.2 There are also reasons to be concerned that tools of international justice, operating as they do very far from the victims and sites of the original crimes, may simply fail to accomplish what we hope for.3 The ad hoc criminal tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda are both being encouraged to complete work by 2008, having prosecuted relatively few cases over the course of more than a decade, but having contributed significantly to the corpus of international law. International justice may be developing, but it has its limits. Yet it is also the case that after civil war or internal atrocity, domestic courts are often unable or unwilling to seriously pursue cases. This leaves a potential gap, one that some believe can be filled by a device between the national and the international—the hybrid or mixed tribunal. While these tribunals are said by some to be an example of “right-sizing” international justice, the 2 case of the Special Court for Sierra Leone suggests that, perhaps, we ought not be so sanguine.4 While perhaps a necessary compromise, I suggest, the Court suffers from the limits of being a partially domestic court, in terms of resources and mandate, but also from the limits of being a partially international court, in that it is viewed by many as foreign. -
Home Office, from Information Obtained from a Variety of Sources
SIERRA LEONE ASSESSMENT OCTOBER 2000 Country Information and Policy Unit Asylum Appeals Policy Unit CONTENTS Scope of Document 1.1 - 1.5 II GEOGRAPHY A. Location, Climate, Population and Language 2.1 B. Economy 2.2 III HISTORY A. 1961 - 1996 3.1 - 3.5 B. Armed Insurrections 3.6 - 3.8 C. 1996 - 1997 3.9 - 3.16 IV INSTRUMENTS OF THE STATE A. Judiciary 4.1 - 4.8 B. Security Forces 4.9 C. Police and Prisons 4.10 - 4.11 D. Civil Defence Force 4.12 V HUMAN RIGHTS A. Introduction B. Security situation 5.1 - 5.4 5.5 - 5.37 (i). Recent event (ii). Revolutionary United Front (iii). United Nations 5.38 - 5.39 5.40 - 542 5.43 - 5.47 C. SPECIFIC GROUPS 5.48 - 5.51 Minorities/Ethnicity 1 5.52 - 5.57 Women 5.58 - 5.62 Children OTHER ISSUES Freedom of Association and Assembly Freedom of the Press 5.63 Freedom of Religion 5.64 - 5.69 Freedom to Travel and Internal Flight 5.70 - 5.72 5.73 - 5.75 ANNEX A: Common Abbreviations/Political Parties ANNEX B: Prominent People ANNEX C: Chronology of Major Events Bibliography 2 I. SCOPE OF DOCUMENT 1.1 This assessment has been produced by the Country Information & Policy Unit, Immigration & Nationality Directorate, Home Office, from information obtained from a variety of sources. 1.2 The assessment has been prepared for background purposes for those involved in the asylum determination process. The information it contains is not exhaustive, nor is it intended to catalogue all human rights violations. -
Special Court for Sierra Leone in The
O SPECIAL COURT FOR SIERRA LEONE IN THE APPEALS CHAMBER Before : Justice George Gelaga King, Presiding Judge Justice Emmanuel Ayoola Justice Renate Winter Justice Raja Fernando Justice Jon M. Kamanda Registrar : Herman von Hebel Date : 28 May 2008 PROSECUTOR Against MOININA FOFANA ALLIEU KONDEWA (Case No.SCSL-04-14-A) JUDGMENT Office of the Prosecutor : Defence Counsel for Moinina Fofana: Stephen Rapp Wilfred Davidson Bola-Carrol Christopher Staker Mohamed Pa-Momo Fofana Karim Agha Joseph Kamara Defence Counsel for Allieu Kondewa : Régine Gachoud Yada Williams Elisabeth Baumgartner Osman Jalloh Bridget Osho Francis Banks-Kamara PURL: https://www.legal-tools.org/doc/b31512/ CONTENTS I. INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 2 A. THE SPECIAL COURT FOR SIERRA LEONE ..................................................................................... 2 B. PROCEDURAL AND FACTUAL BACKGROUND ................................................................................ 3 1. The Armed Conflict in Sierra Leone: The Kamajors and the Civil Defence Forces ............... 3 (a) The Kamajors ........................................................................................................................... 3 (b) The Civil Defence Forces ........................................................................................................ 4 2. The Indictment ........................................................................................................................